Glitches and recoveries: State exchanges run the gamut

The administration said its own system did a good job of determining eligibility. | AP Photo

Hawaii’s exchange, which is still finalizing health plan details, won’t let people enroll in coverage for about a month, an official told The Associated Press. Hawaii consumers can start filling out applications, but insurers are still reviewing rates to make sure the exchange website is displaying them properly.

Maryland, a state widely thought to be at the forefront of Obamacare implementation, is still working through technical issues.

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Covered California on Tuesday said firms looking to purchase coverage on the state’s small-business exchange, known as SHOP, wouldn’t be able to enroll online until November. Similar to a delay implemented in the federal SHOPs last week, California employers can start an account online, but they’ll have to fill out a paper application if they want to sign up over the next few weeks.

Also Tuesday, the state-run Nevada Health Link said a few components of the insurance marketplace wouldn’t be ready right away. Nevada’s Spanish-language website won’t be up until mid-November, and the exchange is still working with insurers over the next couple of weeks to finalize health plan pricing details. Consumers can still enroll in the plans, and Executive Director Jon Hager said the exchange will contact them if there are changes once the plans are finalized.

“Consumers that use the Web portal today will have a very different experience than those who use it in another month or two,” concluded Hager.

Other state exchanges reported success, however. Colorado said it drew 55,000 visitors to its website on the first day, and Illinois counted about 70,000.

The scattered early successes of some state exchanges, the delays of others and the extremely uneven performance of the federal exchange highlights just what a work in progress the whole system remains at launch.

“We are now testing in a live environment as opposed to a test environment,” said Brett Graham, a consultant at Leavitt Partners. “The big question now is does this get resolved in a few days, or a few weeks or a month or more.”

The initial stumbles could amount to a minor footnote if the kinks are worked out in plenty of time for people to enroll ahead of when the first payment for insurance coverage is due, Dec. 15. Coverage starts as soon as Jan. 1.

“I still have not heard from an exchange or a single source that this or that exchange has major problems and is not going to function,” Ario said. “Everything I hear is we’re going to have some glitches and that we’re fairly confident it’s going to work.”